shamans or priests in Chinese society who foretold the future through interpreting animal bones cracked by heat; inscriptions on bones led to Chinese writing

Ideographic writing

pictograph characters grouped together to create new concepts; typical of Chinese writing

Zhou

originally a vassal family of the Shang; possibly Turkic-speaking in origin; overthrew Shang and established 2nd Chinese dynasty (1122-256 B.C.E.)

Xianyang

capital of the Zhou dynasty

Feudalism

social organization created by exchanging grants of land (fiefs) in return for formal oaths of allegiance and promises of loyal service; typical of Zhou dynasty

Mandate of Heaven

the divine source of political legitimacy in China; established under Zhou to justify overthrow of Shang

Qin

dynasty (221-207 B.C.E.) founded at the end of the Warring States period

Shi Huangdi

first emperor of China; founder of Qin dynasty

Warring States period

time of warfare between regional lords following the decline of the Zhou dynasty in the 8th century B.C.E.

Confucius

major Chinese philosopher born in 6th century B.C.E.; sayings collected in Analects; philosophy based on the need for restoration of social order through the role of superior men

Laozi

Chinese Daoist philosopher; taught that governments were of secondary importance and recommended retreat from society into nature

Daoism

philosophy associated with Laozi; individual should seek alignment with Dao or cosmic force

Legalists

Chinese school of political philosophy; stressed the need for the absolute power of the emperor enforced through strict application of laws

Great Wall

Chinese defensive fortification built to keep out northern nomadic invaders; began during the reign of Shi Huangdi

Han

dynasty succeeding the Qin ruled from 202 B.C.E. to 220 C.E.

Himalayan Mountains

region marking the northern border of the Indian subcontinent

Varnas

the categories organizing Indian society into a functional hierarchy; categories of castes

Untouchables

lowest caste in Indian society; performed tasks that were considered polluting (street sweeping, removal of human waste, tanning); people without a caste (outcast); in Hindi, called pariahs

karma

the sum of merits (good things you do) accumulated by an individual; determined the caste one would be born into in the next life; basic belief in Hinduism, and even Buddhism

reincarnation

the successive rebirth of the soul according to merits earned in previous lives; “carn” means meat or flesh, “incarnate” means to become flesh

Mahabharata, Ramayana

Indian epics, deeply imbued with Hindu teachings; Mahabharata about war; Ramayana about a man and a princess going on an adventure

Buddha

creator of a major Indian and Asian religion; born in the 6th century B.C.E.; taught that enlightenment could be achieved only by abandoning desires for earthly things; name was Siddhartha, was a prince; reacted against the teachings of Hinduism

nirvana

the Buddhist state of enlightenment; a state of tranquility; Buddhist heaven

Maurya dynasty

established in Indian subcontinent in 4th century B.C.E. following the invasion of Alexander the Great; great Buddhist dynasty (Ashoka)

Chandragupta Maurya

founder of the Mauryan dynasty, the first empire in the Indian subcontinent; first centralized government since Harappan civilization; may have met Alexander the Great; creates the first central government (tightly organized)

Ashoka

grandson of Chandragupta Maurya; extended conquests of the dynasty (slaughtered thousands); converted to Buddhism (realized the horror of his actions) and sponsored its spread throughout his empire

stupas

stone shrines built to house relics of the Buddha; preserved Buddhist architectural forms; spherical

Upanishads

later books of the Vedas (like the Bible); combined sophisticated and sublime philosophical ideas

Shiva, Vishnu

the most important Hindu deities; destroyer | preserver

Gupta dynasty

built an empire in the 3rd century C.E. that included all but southern Indian regions; less centralized than Mauryan Empire; India does not have another unified empire until the British empire; Hinduism takes over from Buddhism

Sanskrit

the classical and sacred Indian language

Leonard Woolley

archeologist who excavated a Sumerian city, Ur, in 1922 and found statues, musical instruments, and the Royal Graves; also found evidence of a great flood

Lord Elgin

a British lord who removed the marble from the Parthenon from Greece and sold them to the British museum

Heinrich Schliemann

excavated Troy and Mycenae; found the mask of Agamemnon and a shafte grave